9.3 - Under the Lake

Rating

Votes

10

10%

9

9

33%

29

8

39%

34

7

16%

14

6

2%

2

5

0%

0

4

0%

0

3

0%

0

2

0%

0

1

0%

0

Average Rating

8.3

Votes

88

Synopsis

When an underwater base comes under attack, the Doctor and Clara must save the frightened crew and defeat an impossible threat. But what is behind these terrifying events? And can they really be haunted by ghosts?

OK this is 'just another base under siege story' but I LOVE base under siege stories! I feel they are the lifeblood of the show and basically epitomise what the show is, or should be, about i.e. the Doctor turns up to a dangerous situation and uses his ingenuity to save the day. There are bad base under siege stories (Sleep No More for example) but this has all the things that make them great with a different enough set of ingredients from other BUS stories to make it a really strong one. The setting is great, the threat is interesting and menacing, the Doctor has to use his brains and the guest characters are well written and acted.

The only real 'criticism' I have of this is that given that the TARDIS translates all language for the Doctor and his companions why is the message not translated as soon as they look at it and why do they not understand sign language? Having a deaf guest character depicted so positively and normally is great but having the Doctor, who can speak so many languages and has so much knowledge, not know sign language and not have the TARDIS translate it in their minds is an error in my book. The reason is clear, if they did not need the interpreter to translate then we as viewers would not get the translations unless they put it all in subtitles which for a family show is not ideal. I feel a clever readjustment of who says what to whom and the Doctor and Clara repeating back what the deaf character tells them would have made it all work in a more satisfying way.

This one issue aside, the excitement, threat, action, humour, dialogue, characters, acting, sets and effects are all great and the story is clever and interesting. The cliffhanger is dramatic too.

Under the Lake is a classic Doctor Who base under siege story, but unlike many other attempts from the Moffat era, this one begins very solidly. This underwater location is beautifully atmospheric, there's a great sense of mystery about it. The characters are intriguing (I love the deaf commander.)

Overall, this was very enjoyable. It had a classic feel to it: Doctor and Companion land in creepy location and have adventure without apparent stalking from any great over arcing plot. That's traditional Doctor Who and it's well-done in this opener to the series' second two parter.

Under the Lake is the third episode from the ninth series of Doctor Who and is written by Toby Whithouse. The story is your average base under siege story set on an underwater base where there are ghosts invading and killing people, turning them into ghosts. Unlike The Magician's Apprentice, Under the Lake takes no time in getting to the plot which is great as it allows a more fleshed out supporting characters. The supporting characters are interesting with a few not being fleshed out enough. Also the ghosts weren't really scary, just a bit intriguing on how they work. Capaldi is great as usual and we get to see a return to the less human Doctor we saw in Series 8. My biggest problem is the cliffhanger as it doesn't have much tension as we don't know what the ghosts are yet and if you need to be dead to be a ghost. All in all a nice set up and I'm looking forward to the conclusion next week.